The problem is that transcendent means, basically, 'otherworldly'. Does something 'otherworldly' exist? If you are a character inside of a dream, does the Dreamer exist, at least, for you? All of your reality is contingent upon Him and His continued action, but for you He is both everywhere and nowhere. He is totally outside your frame of reference.

I don't think it's necessarily a 'yes' or 'no' answer, because it is a different conception of what it means to exist than we normally encounter. God can't necessarily be said to merely exist, because (for us) He is existence itself. And you can't really say, well, objectively, outside my frame of reference, He exists, because in this sense, 'outside my frame of reference' is sort of nonsensical. You would be stepping outside of what we understand as existence itself, into Eternity -- basically, God. There is no 'outside God.'

At least, according to the transcendent view of things...according to my own, sad, rudimentary understanding...

Well, I think this is a bridge too far for me, then. If all of reality's continued existence is contingent on God, and I (a part of reality) exist, then I have to say that God exists, just not in the sense that I am used to thinking about things existing. He's just 'outside' of the Cosmos, of which I am a part (which is the sort of language I know Voegelin used -- that which is transcendent comes to us from 'outside.' Which is why Jonathan has this creepy feeling someone is watching and judging his actions -- because he is right. He is an immortal soul, and so he is sensitive to the transcendent because he is connected to it.)

Anyway, I'm not sure it is the best idea to play philosophical chicken with the transcendence bus right out of the chute. I'll bet 99.9% of Christians don't believe this stuff and 80% haven't even heard of it. It's too hard. I hadn't until you mentioned it.

"If all of reality's continued existence is contingent on God, and I (a part of reality) exist, then I have to say that God exists, just not in the sense that I am used to thinking about things existing."

Yes, language gets tricky at these heights!

"Anyway, I'm not sure it is the best idea to play philosophical chicken with the transcendence bus right out of the chute."

But I am not playing a strategy or trying to forward a program: I am trying to think these things through for myself. I share them here because some people find my struggles "kind of fun"!

1) Rob decided to close with a sarcastic "So, um..." like he had "got" me... by pointing out that my idea God does not exist exists! If he had just said "I don't understand you" my response would have been different.

2) I'm sorry the idea is difficult. But that is not the faulty of my writing: it is a difficult idea. I have been grappling with it for a couple of years, since I encountered Voegelin talking about "non-existent reality." I certainly can't explain these ideas fully in a blog post, but maybe someone will get interested.

In any case, no, God is not like an idea: he is more like the source of the idea, which we can't point to.